The Pig in Brockenhurst is just one of the Pig hotels on the south Coast and is the focus of Window Wednesday this week. Other Pigs can be found in Southampton, Studland, the Mendip Hills, Devon, Kent and Cornwall but it was the one in the New Forest that Annie and I plumped for when we wanted somewhere for lunch this week.
The setting couldn’t have been more perfect, easily accessible from the M3 yet tucked away in the heart of the countryside where you couldn’t hear or see another building or car. It really did feel as though it would be the perfect back drop for a weekend away and we instantly regretted only booking for lunch and not coming with our other halves for the night.
You are greeted at the door by a “piglet” and shown to your table in what feels like an old conservatory and made me instantly want to photograph and share it on Window Wednesday. Light, airy and with a floor to die for it is decorated with an eclectic feel, all wooden tables and mis matched chairs, I loved it. Large tables for bigger groups and enough space between the tables that you didn’t feel as though you were instantly eaves dropping on your new neighbours or having to whisper so they didn’t overhear your own shared gossip
We were asked if we wanted to order drinks and then left alone to peruse the menu. Nothing was hurried and we loved that the dress code on the website had stated that they would never tell somebody what to wear so to just come in whatever makes you happy so some people were in jeans, whilst some were more smartly dressed. Nobody really cared what anyone was wearing and it was refreshing to see after being in a hotel at the weekend that had their dress code stamped on every piece of paper and on the front page of the website.
The menu prides itself on offering ingredients sourced from within a 25 mile radius, with much of it coming from the hotel’s own garden. There are one or two things that come from further afield (the sirloins from Ireland for instance) but over 80% is sourced locally which feels incredibly impressive. For that reason the menu changes daily, determined by what the forager brings in. We felt, therefore that we should stick to the same ethos for our one gin and plumped for a Lymington.
Annie and I have a mutual love for sausage rolls and they feature heavily in our regular mooches around National Trust properties, so when we saw them on the “Nibbles’ menu we couldn’t resist. Despite the fact we were about to order three other courses these seemed too good to resist. Served alongside a glorious mustard sauce they really were magnificent, and great value at £3.95.
I plumped for the meats board for my starter, Annie chorizo on toast which also looked fabulous, starters ranged from £7 to £9 which we thought were also good value.
Main courses we were offered varied from the menu linked above, there is no sign of Annie’s faggots (so to speak) on the mobile so Annie was thrilled to see them on offer as they are a firm favourite and she couldn’t resist. I went for the sirloin, which was pricier than the other dishes but SO worth it. If I know steak is going to be high quality I will have it rare and I wasn’t disappointed.
Now I must admit we were flagging by this point but couldn’t resist ordering desserts as they all sounded so lovely.
Service throughout was attentive without being overbearing and there was no constant filling of water glasses which I often find intrusive and unnecessary.
Lunch done we were free to wander inside the house and to maybe make use of one of the huge comfy sofas in the lounge area, or to go for a wander around the gardens at The Pig, making use of the Wellington Boots all lined up under stairs. As it was tipping it down with the rain we passed on the latter but we did vow to come back to make the most of this offer one day:
